Just a Girl
by FallenFromParadise
Summary: Modern!Alice:  Alice goes on her first trip to Underland and finds that things aren't always as they appear.  Can she find the strength within to break out of herself and be the woman everyone needs?  2/3 chapters finished.  Updated weekly.
1. The Beginning

Alice's Greatest Adventure

-Part One: The Beginning-

Authors Note: M is for Mature, T is for Teen, and the rest is for people who aren't creative enough to describe blood... Just kidding, stop getting your panties in a bunch or your knickers in a twist. Speaking of knickers, I found a sealed can! The label reads: "Knickers in a Can" ... Sexah bitches buy their unmentionables right next to their cream corn.

... Gebus, that made me gag, stop putting gross thoughts into my head, brain.

Disclaimer: Original story and characters were created and owned by the late Lewis Carroll, character APPEARENCE was taken from the Burton/Depp adaptation. I using my right to use creative liberties in my own adaptation as long as I don't lay claim to any of the characters in any way. Please be aware that some characters will be seen as 'out of character' because I've 'tweaked' them a little bit... *UPDATE* I also don't own any major or minor companies mentioned.

I've not only murdered poor Thackery's accent, but I desecrated it's grave and beat it with a dead horse. Woe is poor Thackery's accent! Woe!

This fiction is rated T (teen) for the following reasons: Language, blood, violence, sexual themes (a.k.a 'lime'), death, and other good stuff that might pop up.

Summery: Alice Kingsleigh graduated from high-school at the age of eighteen with top honors and full intentions of taking the next year off to travel abroad to England and visit the fabled "Ascot Manor" that was famed for it's highly maintained gardens where they would allow visitors to take tea. With her mother's reluctant agreement, a backpack, and the savings she'd collected painstakingly for the past two years of her life, she gets headed on her adventure; but when things turn funny at Ascot Manor her only chance of escape is through the woods. Soon she'll find all the adventure and travel then she ever hoped to have, and perhaps a bit more, as well.

* * *

Alice unrolled her valedictorian speech for what seemed to be the thousandth time after she'd already read it, frowning at words she'd thought were perfect before she'd stood in front of that many people. Flinching in memory at the times she stumbled through her own words and feeling utterly sick as she remembered the actual stumble across the stage to the podium; the loud horrible laughs that had somehow managed to echo over the football field they'd used. She should have turned it down, but her mother had insisted it would look best on her college application. Always for the college application, nothing for her.

She shook her head, 'No, Alice,' she calmed herself, 'don't think depressing thoughts, they'll only worsen how you feel.' Though telling herself that didn't help her feel any better, it did prevent any worse thoughts from, as she'd known it would. Her mother was a very depressed soul, often given to fits of rage should she find something displeasing; often judging others by their accidents alone, and though she knew she did care for her mother very much, most of the time she just wanted to be away from her.

"You really should have watched your step, Alice." Helen Kingsleigh was saying now, her tone bitter and sharp, as they walked back to the car, "It's because you wore those heals, you should have worn the black ones, everyone wore the black ones." she continued, eyeing Alice's shoes with distaste, "I can't even think of a reason you chose blue, your tassle is gold just like the linning on your robe." when they reached the car Helen walked to her door and opened it, then got in. It took her a moment to unlock the passenger-side door having forgotten about it.

Rule number one in the Kingsleigh household; don't apologize.

Apologizing has the undesired effect of being taken for weakness; or at least, that's what Alice thought. During the times she'd apologized for a mistake to her mother it had only served an opening in which to attack from a different angle. Keeping quiet was your best bet. Let the screaming rants run out, then stay out of sight for a bit, afterwards have an interesting topic on hand to go back and start. It had taken her years to learn, and a few years longer to employ, but after she'd gotten the rhythm down she found that it worked best.

"Blue shoes." she almost sneered the word blue as though it were as disgusting as a snails slime, "To your own graduation, and in front of all those people!" shaking her head she started the car and tore off from the parking lot and onto the rode, "It was just such a disappointment, I really wish I hadn't of come." another snide remark, one that Alice was actually boiling at. Really, the woman was being so insufferable Alice was half tempted to jump from the car; surely the thirty-five miles they were going wouldn't be enough to end her life?

Her mother kept talking, so she decided staring out the front window with a semi-interested look on her face was the best course, maybe add a couple of nods here and there during Helen's pauses to appear as though she were agreeing and thinking the same thing. It was irritating, but as long as she didn't think while she did it, it was fine.

Rule number two in the Kingsleigh household; don't think.

Thinking encouraged the top three things Alice wanted to avoid, the first being anger. When she was angry, she liked turn music up and step into her closet with two pillows, then smother her head from one ear to the next, and start screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs until her throat would hurt and her eyes were tear. Then she would remove the pillows, step out of the closet, turn the music off, and study her ass off. Studying was an excellent time-consumer that perfectly allowed you to remove yourself from your reality and submurge into numbers, dates, names, places, and theories; without a doubt, it was the reason she'd made such good grades to begin with.

The stress from thinking would also make her sick, not only emotionally, but physically as well. Her stomach would cramp and churn until she had to race to the bathroom and pray that she made it least she mess the carpet. During each bought of sickness she would sit in her room with a glass of water and a few comedic movies designed to lift her spirits. Movies were also a fantastic way to keep your mind involved while suspending reality, the more stupid the movie, the better. Alice would happily recommend 'Dude, Where's My Car', but really, if it had very little drama and romance in it you could watch anything.

There was also crying when you thought to much, and a feeling of absolute worthlessness. During the times that Alice had to cry, she would do it as quietly as possible, because crying was probably the most idiotic thing anyone could do in her house. It opened your defenses so completely that you could be attacked several times on different subjects until you'd forgotten what it was that had you originally crying in the first place... So far, the only thing Alice knew that would eventually stop the tears was to press her face as deep into the pillow as she could to drown out the sounds that managed to escape her.

Rule number three in the Kingsleigh household; even if you don't agree, agree.

Disagreeing is a sure way of causing a rift, because that would mean that you didn't agree; if unsure of what to say, then the best thing to say is, "You're right."; just make sure to say it in the proper tone the situation calls for. Once Alice hadn't been paying attention completely while she was watching 'Dude, Where's My Car' and hadn't been paying attention to her mothers sarcastic tone; so when asked what she thought she'd said, "You're absolutely right." in a tone that had been to serious. That had not only resulted in a four hour long rant, but also plenty of times being threatened to have the police called on her and forcibly removed from the house; which at the time she'd found more annoying then anything else... It was just at the part where they found out they'd both gotten tattoo's.

Rule number four in the Kingsleigh household; if you can't beat 'em, leave 'em.

Well... Rule number four wasn't actually ever tested before; though it had been considered plenty of times. Now, as they were nearing their house, Alice smoothed the graduation gown with trembling hands and cleared her throat, "So a few friends and I were thinking..." she started, licking her lips nervously, "The summer's all ahead of us now, and we were thinking of going on a bit of a trip together to celebrate the end of our K-12 school lives." darting a quick look to her mother she went on, "It will only be for the summer, though," That was an outright lie, their England backpacking adventure was supposed to actually take about eighteen months, "so I'll be back before orientation." which was true, she'd already contacted the dean to the college she'd originally applied and was accepted into and informed him of her plans. She'd gotten plenty of encouragement and some grandfatherly advice from the man, and a couple of interesting suggestions on sight seeing.

Her mother didn't answer, but her grip was tight on the steering wheel and Alice felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. Why couldn't she have this much? She'd done everything she was supposed to! The best grades in her school, let alone her year, for not four but seven consecutive years; send her application into the local university so she wouldn't have to 'ditch her mother with all the bills', kept her mouth shut for every insult that fell from her mouth, accepted punishment for things she hadn't said because Helen had insisted she had...

Shaking her head she coughed, remembering rule number two. It had been stupid to think she'd be allowed to travel, and she should have realized it before she'd even thought of the idea. It would have saved much planning and saving; but at least now she had a bit of extra cash saved away for an emergency, and she wouldn't have to worry about the dangerous of walking around with only her two friends as protection against the dangerous of England. At least she knew the layout of her hometown so well that if something happened she knew all possible escape routes and be able to run away from the trouble with confidence and composure.

"Are you listening to me?" Helen's voice suddenly snapped, "You ask me this question, then zone out when I answer you? Are you sure you're even ready for a trip out of the country yet? Look at you, you were literally tripping over yourself not even thirty minutes ago, now you're asking to go to England." she reached into her purse and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, "How do you even think you'd get there, anyhow? Relying on Amiee's daddy's connections, or going into debt and borrowing it from Sammy?" she gave a bitter laugh that made Alice feel uncomfortable. "Well at least their rich enough to afford it... You'll borrow money from your friends to go to England, but will you borrow some for food? Hell no, you won't."

Alice didn't mention that she didn't borrow the money for food because they hadn't needed the money for food; Helen had only wanted a new coffee pot since the one they had was leaking. Helen had acted surprised when it had started leaking, and that time, too, Alice had kept her mouth shut; not mentioning that it had probably been during the the fit over the empty milk jug. The empty milk just being empty only because it had been poured out during the 'raw hamburger' fit, where Alice had accidentally undercooked her hamburger...

That had actually been an all out fight after Helen had thrown the hamburger at Alice, hitting her in the back of the head. The police had been called and Helen arrested for domestic violence; the idiot woman had even told the officers that she'd thrown the hamburger first because it was undercooked and still expected them to take Alice in for abusing the 'elderly'...

Last time Alice had checked, forty-two wasn't elderly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I boring you, Alice?" her mother mocked suddenly, and Alice realized she was not only breaking rule number two again, but also managing to ignore her mothers rant. She bite back the muttered swears and focused on what her mother was thinking, apparently it wasn't her day for zoning out; "Ah, I didn't hear you, was trying to remember what time Lost came on tonight." she smiled. Smiling was the easy part, nice gentle exercise for your face! Never try distracting her mother without a smile, it goes badly real fast; and always try to use something she's either interested in (a must) or obsessed with (even better); this way the woman had an instant reason to find interest in the changed topic.

Helen sighed, stopping at a stop light and flicking her cigarette out of her rolled down window. She appeared agitated and suddenly picked up her cell phone and tossed it to her, "Call the deadbeat and ask him for the money to go. Lord knows he should have it, what with not paying a lick of child-support for the past ten years." she snapped, taking a long drag on the cigarette, Alice didn't remind her that he didn't have to pay child-support because she'd had all rights taken from him when she'd married another man and had him adopt her... Alice restrained rolling her eyes; a real family her ass. "Try and get at least five thousand, that way I can catch up the bills while you're away."

Alice's mouth dropped, there was no way her father would cough up five thousand dollars for a vacation! "What? Hurry and call him before we get home, I need to drop you off and go to Grace's apartment and I'd like to know if you're going or not as quickly as possible."

Glancing at the phone she internally groaned, then went through the internal phone book until his name popped up... She didn't want to have to call the gentle man who'd been so nice and kind to her as a child, for five thousand dollars that she didn't need; but if she chanced saying she'd saved back money herself for the trip, she'd be accused of hording and bullied into giving her mother the money. Cringing she hit the send button and waited for him to pick up the phone. It took four rings until he picked up with a tired and discouraged 'hello?'.

"Hi, Da-Charles." she cleared her throat, hating calling her father by his first name, "How are you doing?" she asked, actually curious, but keeping her tone as careless as possible so that her mother didn't pick up on it. She mentally apologized to her father and hoped he understood why she was acting so horrible to him on the phone. It was a moment before he answered her very warmly and she relaxed. Of course he'd understood, she never used her mothers cellphone to call him unless her mother was right in the room with her.

"Hurry and ask him, we're almost home." Her mother rushed her, waving her hand in a 'shooing' gesture as a way of 'encouragement'.

"Um... Charles?" she asked, feeling terrible, "Um... Since I finally graduated high-school today... Yes... Yes, Charles, it was today... No, don't say that, it's fine! I don't blam-" she was cut off as Helen reminded her to hurry by honking her car horn, alerting her to the fact that they were in front of the house. Flinching she clenched her eyes closed and swallowed past the guilt, "Charles, I was wanting to know if I could have five thousand dollars so I can go to England with my friend!" she suddenly asked, her stomach beginning to twist and turn, cramping up.

There was a silence, then her father had agreed and told her to call him back when she was alone. She promised she would and hung the phone up without telling him thanks or 'I love you'; which she knew hurt him, how could it not? He would understand... But it would still hurt him.

"I take it he said no?" Helen asked, flicking her cigarette again and reaching for the cellphone, "Figures, what a fucking dick." she flung the phone into her purse and waited for Alice to get out. "Well, you came close to going to Europe, sweety, maybe next year?" she smiled and patted Alice's knee.

"He actually said yes." she told her mother, keeping the smirk off her face was difficult, though... She would have to work on that.

Oh wait, no she wouldn't!

She opened the car door and slipped out, smiling at her mother and feeling more spirited then she ever remembered, "Enjoy your visit to Grace's, mom, and don't let her get to you to much, okay?" she asked, lightly rapping her hands against the car door she closed it and jogged inside, waiting by the door until she heard the engine fade off into the distance. Right after that she screamed and hoped up and down, racing towards the cordless in the living room she quickly died her fathers number, of which he answered after the first ring, like always.

"Hi, Daddy!" she chirped, sitting on the back of the couch and staring out of the living room window, "Listen, I'm so sorry-" he cut her off, not wanting her to apologize for staying out of trouble. "About the money, I really don't need that much, I'll give you three of it back after mom sees I have it-" he refused the idea, encouraging her to keep it held back for at least an emergency. "But Daddy, I already have twenty-five hundred saved up." he'd outright laughed at that, then told her that the chances of her surviving on a mere twenty-five hundred were slimmer then she was thinking. But she didn't mind, he'd always said things in such a warm and joking manner that it was impossible to be angry with him. He went on to explain that he didn't want her camping out or using hostel's. It took her a minute to realize that his list of possibilities were taken from the gore movies he'd started to like watching.

They talked for a bit longer when her father had her go to her paypal account and accept the transfer, soon as everything cleared her bank could withdraw two thousand dollars for her and her mother would have her 'bill' money. When she heard the car pull up she quickly logged off paypal and hung up the phone with a quick "love you, bye" and just made it to the phone charger when her mother walked in, "Hey Alice, there's groceries in the car, would you get them, please?" her mother asked as she walked over to the computer, pulling up her game she began clicking and typing to the other players.

She smiled and skipped out to do it without complaint, she'd forgotten her mother's good moods when there was extra cash in her hands... She frowned at that thought and shifted her shoulders uncomfortably before leaning into the backseat of the car and grabbing a few of the grocery sacks. Brushing that off she carried them into the house, depositing them in the kitchen before going back for another trip.

* * *

Amiee and Sammy were both giggling in their plane seats, happy and at ease even though they were hundreds of feet in the air... Miles high... To many miles. At first the idea had seemed charming, looking out the windows of the plane to see the landscape below; but the only thing that did was impact the idea that if the plane crashes, so do the passengers. Alice forgot why she'd thought going to England would be good, it obviously was not good! It hadn't been good for the past four hours, either! If the side of the plane gets sucked off the first person to go would be the person by the window. Why had she gotten a window seat, what was she thinking? Groaning she tried to scoot further away, the person sitting beside her suddenly startled and staring at her.

"You look like a Raggity Ann doll." The woman had teased gently after she realized Alice's attempts at getting further from the window.

A nervous smile tugged her lips and she swallowed, "... High..." she managed to get out, clenching her eyes shut and looking up to the roof of the plane.

"Ahh, nervous flier." Alice nodded in response, "Don't like heights, either?" Alice nodded again, "Want to change seats with me?" She felt like a bobble-head doll, but it was worth it when the elderly woman stood and allowed her to slip though, then took Alice's seat next to the window. Alice sighed in relief and sank to the seat, now only able to see the clouds whisking by; "Are you on your way to London, too, dear?" she asked, "I just couldn't resist going myself, especially since they're re-opening their doors after nearly twenty years of being closed. I've so been wanting the Ascot Estate again!" trilling she took out her camera, "I hope they'll let me take pictures!"

Alice glanced at her still giggling friends, shifting in her seat, "What's the 'Ascot Estate'?" Alice asked; the college dean had also recommended it; but at the time she'd just been relieved he'd agreed to put her previous acceptance on her application and keep it on file. "I've heard of it before, but they'd only said it had a large garden that they allowed people to drink tea in."

Laughing the woman shook her graying head, "Oh, it's so much more then that, dear!" she gasped, clasping her hands together in anticipation; "Of course, the tea there is fantastic, or it use to be... But the best thing about the Ascot Estate is the myth that's in it's back woods." the woman chuckled, "They say that there's an entrance to an enchanted kingdom, that is only able to be used by very special people."

Alice laughed, "Oh that does sound charming!" she thrilled, "I wouldn't mind going and looking for myself..." She trailed off and glanced back at Sammy and Amiee, who were now turned and flirting with a couple of the male passengers.

"You're traveling companions?" the woman asked, her tone sounding somewhat like her mothers had when she'd first met the girls; "The seem... Enthusiastic."

"They look like sluts." Alice dead-paned, then gasped and covered my mouth. The old woman was laughing hysterically, and for a moment I thought she was having trouble breathing; which, when asked, she assured Alice very happily that she indeed, was. "I swear I didn't mean to say that."

Finally recomposing herself she shook her head and fanned at her face with a safety pamphlet, "Oh no, dear, it happens to some is all." she chuckled, "It's the atmosphere change, I don't know how it does it, but it does. Did it to my Frankie, too." she shook her head, putting the pamphlet back once her face had cooled enough; "But I dare say you are right." She shook her head and wagged her finger, "It's dangerous to do what they're doing while you're on your way to foreign soil; you never know who's been where and who's actually after what."

Alice nodded her head, it was a wise statement and one she really wouldn't ignore, turning to the woman to give thanks for it she suddenly blurted, "Can I come with you to the Ascot Estate?" then blinked, feeling like an idiot. The woman had just told her explicitly that it was a stupid idea to be so trusting of strangers while going to strange places. Laughing nervously she pushed her curly blonde hair behind her ear, "I think my brain's trying to trick my mouth."

The woman grinned at her, then patted her hand, "It's alright dear, as I said, happens to us all." she excused, "And besides, nothing to be embarrassed about, after hearing about the Ascot Estate how would you even be able to think of not going? Of course you'll need a dress, do you have one?"

Alice shook her head, then paused, "I'll have to check, actually."

"Don't worry, dear, others will buy in London, too; but nice cover." she patted Alice's hand again, and Alice couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

Alice found herself in a simple blue dress, the short knee length skirt fluffed out with white stockings covering her legs, it had a low box cut that revealed all of her shoulders and a little bit of cleavage of which Emily, the old lady from the plan, had deemed 'adorable'. She'd thought she was done with the dress, stockings, and shoes, but Emily had thrown in an interesting hair ribbon that looked like it actually belonged on a child's gift, and a thick blue ribbon to be worn tied around the younger woman's neck. Once Alice had them all bought she smiled happily, "You'll look like a doll! Perhaps you should buy a shawl? I think you should, just in case it gets drafty." The young blonde stepped into a store and carefully selected two green shawls that felt more like silky scarves with tea cups and tea pots decorating them.

She'd given one to Emily, who'd handed her a startlingly beautiful silver pocket watch. When asked why she pointed to the decorated cover and Alice felt that, Emily was one of those people that you either loved, or hated... But she really did like Raggity Ann and Andy, so she supposed she couldn't mind enough to hate the dear old woman. She'd placed the watch inside her purse as Emily tried on her shawl and insisting Alice do the same. "Ah, you might as well be my grand-daughter," she laughed, "either that, or twins."

"Definitely twins." Alice had responded dutifully, then grinned, "We were just born a few decades apart is all, I hear it's a common problem."

Emily nodded, "Yes, terrible thing." she paused, then gasped suddenly, "Oh, Alice! We're missing the transit!" she started running after it, so Alice started running after her, both of them waving their arms about as fast as they could to get the buses attention. When they did Alice was actually suprised they'd stopped for them, then to actually let them on with only a reminder that they didn't have to! Alice had thanked them for stopping while Emily sat down, then took the seat beside her.

"Were are we heading, now?" Alice suddenly asked, looking at Emily who howled back with laughter, shaking her head.

"What did I tell you about trusting everyone you meet, Alice?" she gently chided, "If it wasn't me your were with you might have already been taken advantage of; we're going to the Ascot Estate now." Alice blinked at her, panicking, "Don't worry dear, you can change in their restrooms, I'm sure they don't expect tourists like us to ride the transit in our best clothes; and if they do then they'll have to make an exception." she sniffed at that and put her nose in the air, making Alice laugh and copy her movement.

It only took maybe forty minutes on the bus until the reached their destination, getting out in front of a huge house surrounded by a tall cast-iron gate with a metal sign tied to it announcing the times it was open and what times it closed. She'd tried to read it, but Emily was already walking down the long drive, so Alice caught up with her instead. The older woman looked very excited, "Wouldn't it be such a grand adventure if we found the door, Alice?" she asked, sighing, "I know it's a silly dream, but I've always wanted to visit an enchanted kingdom; with lovely talking animals and such. Beautiful queens and handsome kings..."

Alice chuckled, it did seem like a nice dream, "I don't think it's silly at all, and I do hope we find it!" she grinned, "When I was smaller I would like pretending that I needed rescuing from my evil queen mother because of my beauty and intelligence." Snickering she shook her head, "But it's a bit difficult for a pet goldfish to rescue a princess; poor Meebles never had a chance." both women laughed together, finally standing in front of the estate doors. Alice was going to knock, but Emily had already pushed the door open in her excitement and walked inside.

They were greeted by two doormen who both went ignored as Emily slipped into the restroom. They looked at Alice and she had to laugh and explain that they'd only just bought their clothes on the way here, at which they smiled knowingly and warned that they weren't generally allowed to let guests use the unmarked restrooms, very curious as to how Emily had even known it was there in the first place. Alice only shrugged, since I didn't know it wasn't like she could really answer. Once Emily was finished, walking out looking like a beautiful yellow buttercup Alice tried to comment on it, but she'd already pushed her in to get dressed as well; and she did so quickly; or rather she tried to do so quickly.

The neck ribbon was a confusing mess to Alice, and she'd placed the hair ribbon in to far on one side of her head, groaning she attempted a second time on each, then a third, then gave up and stepped out to whine plaintively at Emily, who'd taken mercy on her and made quick work of them both, though she'd said the hair ribbon wasn't supposed to be centered, anyhow, instead she'd bunched up a small bit of Alice's hair and clipped it in, smiling in a pleased way when it stayed in place. To be sure she'd added a few more hair pins from her purse into Alice's hair, then declared them both ready, handing the doormen their extra things they'd taken their new purses out to the back gardens with them.

It was actually more beautiful then Alice would have imagined at first, there were flowers everywhere of every different kind, arranged artfully so that it all had a very pleasant balance to it; but Emily insisted they take tea before they explore. It was actually very fun, taking tea with the older woman; she had a spunky attitude and charming sense of humor if you looked around a few teasing remarks made to slightly off-kilter. When Emily suggested another cup, Alice heartily agreed to it, laughing as she poured and measured cream into hers while the younger girl added both sugar and cream. She caught Alice off guard, once, when she'd touched Alice's hair thoughtfully, "We should have picked a hat for you, instead, I think."

Frowning Alice opened her mouth to ask what had brought that on, when three loud bangs made the entire garden quite, everyone looking at the three men towards the front holding their hands in the air for some reason. Was this a tea game? Looking to Emily to laugh at it Alice noticed her face to be pale, "Emily?" she asked, looking back at the men, "Emily, they're not actually here to-"

"Alice, run." Emily gasped, "Run away into the woods and hide until they leave." about to ask why she pushed Alice from the table and shook her head, bending her head and covering her mouth she started pretending to cry, "Those men are human trafficker's! They look for women like you, Alice, run away... Now!" she snapped, and Alice didn't need to be told twice. She grasped her new purse, wishing it were her old one that held the pre-paid cell her father had made her buy, and crawled away from the table as fast as she could, darting between tables. A few people seen what she was doing, but kept quiet, others followed suit, and Alice trembled with fear. More shots were fired and she only went faster, feeling tears fall from her eyes at the thought of her new friend dying her fingers suddenly crunched a dry leaf, and she looked up. She'd made it to the woods.

Another shot fired had her darting into the trees, it wasn't minutes later when others began showing, and a sudden shout went up, along with more loud bangs and suddenly blood curdling screams ripped though the air, sending panicked shivers down her spin... She'd always thought she knew what a blood curdling scream was, but it was so much more... Blood curdling! Making her very skin crawl as she imagine the pain that person was in and wondered if they would survive. As more people pushed past she was tempted to run after them, hardly restraining the urge, then suddenly turned left, sprinting away from the others.

But she left a moment to late, she could hear shouts behind her, then gun fire, then her shoulder suddenly felt as though it'd caught on fire and she fell, screaming and clutching her wound, her hand coming away with blood. She felt her head spin as she fell, and the light started to grow dimmer and dimmer, the edges of her vision narrower and narrower. As she fainted she thought it would be good if Emily had been spared, she was such a nice person.

Alice awoke slowly, blinking her hazy blue eyes open slowly and unsteadily taking a deep breath. Her entire body hurt, as though a large group of people had suddenly jumped her, wielding bats and iron chains. Trying to sit up her shoulder surged with pain and she gasped from shock, falling back against the ground as the pain forced her to give up using her right arm. Shaking her head she gritted her teeth and used her left arm, biting back the scream as her shoulders shifted a bit until she was finally standing. Looking around she found she was in a room with several doors around her, each of which were locked and gave nothing when she tried to kick one... Which she hadn't tried again after her shoulder had recovered from her stupid stunt.

Sitting down to rest she shook her head, cursing herself a thousand times over for getting caught. Emily had given her the only chance she had of getting out of there without turning into someone's personal sex slave, and what did she do? She panicked while everyone else got away, then was snatched for being stupid and taking a difference route! She should have stayed with the majority, shouldn't have disagreed with them; shouldn't have thought she'd go another way in hopes that they'd go for the majority instead of only one person.

Grumbling to her self she suddenly screamed; banging her head onto the wall she leaned against she shook her head, looking around the room again, noticing a small round table that had apparently appeared from nowhere. Frowning at it she wondered which door it was brought through, then groaned again as she stood up and walked shakily to the table, grabbing the items on it and staring at them before realizing one was a key. Her eyes widening she instantly began trying the doors, each try unsuccessful, until the only door left was a miniature one in what she guessed to be the front of the room. She frowned as she studied it, then shrugged, "What the hell, right?" she asked herself, shakily bending to stuff the key into the little door.

When it opened she almost screamed in frustration, how was she expected to go through a door that small? Tossing the key down she seethed, "Thought that was pretty funny, didn't you?" she hollered, stamping her foot, "Not enough you bastards shoot me, you gotta mock me to, eh?" she looked back at the table and marched to it, snatching up the little bottle she'd put back down in favor for the key. It read in dark swirling letters: 'Drink Me'. she blinked at it, then turned to hurl it at the mini-door only to stop at the sight of a slightly larger then average rabbit wearing a smart pin-striped vest, he was blinking at her, as though waiting for her to do something.

Looking from side to side she walked closer to the rabbit, was it real? Reaching out with the bottle still in hand she poked the rabbit, who brushed off her finger and looked at her in an annoyed manner. Alice paused and looked around her for a moment, then poked him again, at which he'd smacked her had away and cleared his throat, "Hello, Miss, we weren't expecting any new visitors so it took us a little while to get everything prepared for you." he greeted, straightening his lapels, "It's actually taking you a bit longer then we thought for you to..." he paused and frowned, "My word! Are you bleeding?" he gasped, hopping forward a bit to study the wound.

Alice looked around herself again, "Ahh, I'm delusional." she murmured, then fell to her knees, and considered just finding somewhere to lay down for a little bit, just long enough for the room to stop spinning. The rabbit shook his head and muttered something about about something, she didn't care, though, rabbits shouldn't talk, and when they do, people shouldn't listen... Ah, that sounded wrong, did she mean people should listen? If so she'd just screwed up. He leaned out the door and began calling for a hatter and a cat named Chester; pretty random. Rabbits say pretty random things. Where there even hatters anymore?

* * *

The Mad Hatter opened another door and looked around curiously, never having been in the room before he was quite excited, but Chessur, the blasted fur-ball, was telling him to stand still or be in danger of having a stolen hat as he slept. Looking about the room again he noticed that there were a pair of somewhat dirty white stockinged legs in the room! Attached to an oddly short skirt. The top of the skirt had a belly and chest attached, then a shoulders, a small red hole, a neck, two arms, and a head full of long blonde curls. Tilting his head he looked at Nevins as he shook a small bottle of pelshiver, questioning Chessur if he knew anything about the reactions if it were used on a wounded body.

Chessur asked him if he were stupid and Nevins started huffing; but the hatter had to agree with Chessur. He walked over and picked the girl up easily, walking back out the door he'd come in from. The small red hole was obviously a wound that needed to be treated; and thankfully a hatter can do the best of stitches. He quickly inspected the hole and discovered it went straight through to the other side, making quick work of it, he'd quickly sewn both holes with care. One hole, however, was a bit more challenging, as it appeared that some of the skin had been removed, though thankfully there was enough to fully cover the wound so that it wouldn't scar to badly.

He wasn't sure why she'd passed out, it wasn't like there was a terrible amount of blood missing after all; perhaps she just wasn't use to being hurt. The hatter knew he fainted when he was first hurt, too, though his hurt had been a broken ankle while hers was a hole. He had made the stitches as tiny as he could, though, and using pale peach color thread so that the wound wouldn't be that noticeable. Once he finished the last stitch, he began wrapping a white cotton bandage around her shoulder, then stepped back and looked at his handy work, rather proud of himself, she looked almost as good as new!

Chessur appeared over the girl as he studied her, the rabbit quickly joining them while shaking his head, "No, no, no, no!" He bounced around her once, "She was supposed to go through the smallest door, that's why it's there! Why have a door if it's never going to be used?"

"Well they look rather nice on the fronts of houses." the Hatter replied, "Though windows are much more fun to enter, and there are usually so many of them that you can use a different one each time you enter or leave, but a door is so boring, only one or two of those, so only one or two ways of entering and leaving... Though there are some rooms without windows and you've got to use a door; personally I find I'd rather have windows in each room, how can a person live without windows in each room? They'd get no light at all-"

"Hatter," Chessur interrupted in a bored tone.

Taking a deep breath the hatter nodded, raising a hand in thanks; "I'm fine."

The rabbit shook his head, "Well this is just fine, our first visitor in over three hundred years, and it's got to be a wounded girl who can hardly walk on her own two legs." his nose twitched, "Why do you suppose she's injured?"

"How are we to know, you're the one who called us." Chessur replied, rolling around in the air to look at him upside down, "Of which we'll remind Thackery of, as he's always so cranky when one leaves their tea behind to cool."

His eyes opening widely he shook his head, "Now don't make him angry with me, Hatter was the only one near enough to stitch her up, and he gets distracted so easily that he'd have gotten lost on his own if I'd only called him. I couldn't very well let her die in the entrance, could I?" he asked, sounding a bit rankled at the prospect. "Now what am I to do with her? I can't very well carry her to the queen myself, can I?"

Tarrant ignored the unasked assistance, "We'll just bring her along with us, then." he stated, grinning to Chessur, "Will be nice to have another for tea, wouldn't it?" he bent and picked her up, "I'm sure Thackery won't mind, but if he does we'll have to leave her somewhere, wouldn't do to upset the hare, such a jumpy fellow recently." he said as he walked down the path leading to his friend Thackery's house.

The rabbit gasped, shaking his furry head until his ears whipped back and forth, "You can't take her there! Have you gone madder then you usually are? She'll take one look at you all and surely become mad herself!" he exclaimed, trying to change the hatters mind.

Chessur gave a noncommittal sound as he watched the rabbit's head shake furiously, "I'll meet you there, Hatty, won't do for the two of us to be scolded when just you would be just fine, see you around, Nevins." he said to the rabbit as he vanished, presumably back to his tea.

When Nevins suddenly jumped into his path he stepped over him, "Nevins, you can join us too, if you'd like, always enough room for more at our table, it is rather long, you know." he said happily, his lime colored eyes sparkling at the prospect of a large tea party.

"I wouldn't want to impose," Nevins turned down, instead placing himself in the mans path again, "But she might want this when she awakes, it fell down with her." He handed a small blue handbag up and Tarrant had to balance the girl with his leg as he accepted the bag and placed it onto the girl, then Nevins made his goodbye and hoped off into a different direction; probably to alert the queen that Mad Hatter had taken the girl to tea.

He'd nearly made it to the tea table when the girl began stirring, so he stopped and waited for her to wake up, and when she did she opened her eyes to reveal fascinatingly deep blue eyes. They stared back into his without blinking, he knew because he hadn't blinked himself; "Hello." he greeted, offering her a large smile, "Welcome to Underland, you took us by surprise, you know." chuckling he shook his head, "Naughty girl, you upset Nevins frightfully when you had to be taken from the room without using the smallest door, however did you manage to injure yourself? Did it happen while you fell? Never fell down the hole myself, but I hear it's a dreadfully long fall, though really only Nevins has fallen down it and he'd said once was more then enough for him. I think I would like falling, however, much more fun then standing, you could do whatever you want while falling, but when you're just standing you're stuck in one spot doing nothing."

The blue eyes blinked in what looked to be interest; but the voice remained hidden and he wondered why, perhaps she was mute? If she were mute it would be difficult to understand her, maybe she could write? "Do you need a something to write with, perhaps? I think I might have something somewhere if you do, but I'm afraid I don't have anything on me now, so you'll have to wait until we're at Thackery's for me to go searching for it."

He didn't know why she did it, but when she did he'd nearly dropped her in shock and wondered how his eardrums rattled so much for just one girl's scream.

* * *

Alice wasn't use to waking up in strange men's arms, and this man was the strangest she'd ever seen in her life! Wild orange-red hair looked as though it were getting ready to explode from an odd, but attractive, top hat that carried several different pins tucked inside of a long trailing scarf with a little note card in the side reading 10/6 (what was that supposed to mean?). He was deathly pale, just a shade over paper white all over his face but for his high cheek, around his eyes, and his lips, which were an attractive rouge that brought out the startling crystal clear and extraordinarily glass-green eyes, one ever-so-slightly darker then the other.

He was attractive, she supposed, in an odd sort of way, his bushy eyebrows the same color of his hair seemed to actually benefit him, where as bushy eyebrows usually only benefited dogs. He had a cheerful smile, too, a small gap between his teeth turning the smile from nice into charming, and Alice found herself wishing she had a smile like that. He was talking to her, but she was so fixated by his face that she missed what he'd said, and there was a terrible pain near her shoulder and back, and through for that matter, if she ever got shot she imagined it would feel like what it did now.

Oh wait, that's right, she was shot; through the back to the front after she'd left poor Emily to die while she'd ran away and saved her own skin. The gunman had followed her... Oh dear lord, was this strange man the gunman? The thought brought the scream to her lips instantly, and she pushed away from him, however his grip only tightened. Continuing to scream she fought to get away, when she felt half her body drop as he freed an arm and covered her mouth with a hand, frowning at her as though she'd done him a personal wrong.

"Wha's wrong wit' ya, lass?" he grated, and she blinked her eyes, she'd been shot by a Scotsman at an English tea party? The thought was almost funny if it hadn't been for the part that she'd actually gotten shot, "Ye act like thar's somethin' wrong wit' ye; but I canna help ye if I dinne kin wha' ye'r on ah'boot." she blinked at him, he was trying to help her? Did she chance believing him? At that moment it wasn't like she had much of a choice, though. Still, she nodded her head in understanding and his smile returned, "There, all better now."

Did his voice and accent just change? Was he Scottish or not? "Who are you?" she asked slowly, sounding rude even to her own ears, "Are you really helping me? I don't mean to sound rude, but if you're really helping me then are you taking me to the police station, because I need to see a cop before they take the others away and kill the rest." she was sure that's what was going to happen; and while she truthfully didn't give a red hot damn about the others, she would prefer it if Emily made it out alive.

He looked at her oddly, "What are you talking about, is there someone after you?" he turned about and looked behind them, as though waiting to see people leap from the bushes and attack them, then shrugged and continued the way he'd been going, "Not to worry, though, not to worry. A spot of tea and I'm sure you'll be better, everything's better after a cuppa, after all."

It was her turn to give him an odd look; she'd just told him people were going to be killed and he wanted a 'spot of tea'? Was he crazy? "Then if you'll just put me down I'll see if I can't just find a cop myself, then." she said, trying to wriggle out of his hold.

In response his hold held firm, refusing to budge an inch, "Now, now; I can't let you just wonder about injured the way you are!" he informed her, "Only a cad would do something that bad." at that he gave a large smile, "Oh, I rhymed! Delightful!"

"But-"

"Lissin, girlie, I say ta hol' still or ye'll hurt yeself, so stay yeself still!" the order was rough and heavily accented, and she instantly stopped fighting in response to the now furious orange that his eyes had turned into. They'd been odd in their previous green, but for them to turn orange was curious!

He began walking again, his eyes fading back to green as they went, "I can walk, you know." she informed him, "My shoulder was shot, not my leg." he ignored her, "Hello?" giving up she watched the scenery pass by only a minute before she was staring at a large open field. Blinking at the change she turned and spotted several tables stacked beside each other to create an insanely long table, chairs of every sort lining down the two sides with great armchairs at each end. Delicate looking mismatched tea sets were littered all over the tables from top to bottom; plates of cookies, cakes, what she thought to be scones, another other oddly shaped breads covered the tables on decorative serving platforms and dishes.

But the most interesting thing about the table was probably the rather large shaky brown rabbit... No, hare, weird-hat-guy had called it a hare... sat to one end of the table, so jittery that the cup in his hand rattled against his saucer while his ear seemed to have a intercommunication problem, one sticking up with the other laying down, then very suddenly the opposite.. He wore a large yellow tie with large red spots dotted onto it which had seemed odd at first, but some odd reason it went with his fur rather nicely; Alice found herself mentally congratulating him for pulling it off.

However he apparently wasn't able to read minds as he hadn't got her compliment; or she had assumed he hadn't, when he suddenly threw his tea cup at the two new arrivals, "Ya naw alud ta lev' tea ta cuul!" he suddenly shouted, grabbing both his ears in each hand to spin and flop uselessly to the ground. Alice blinked (just how many animal's were capable of speech?) as weird-hat-guy easily dodged the projectile and walked her to a seat, gracefully sitting both her and himself down at the same time; she'd never known a man that could move so gracefully before, and she was growing rather envious of him.

"I'm afraid your guest got injured on her way to tea," he explained sorrowfully at which the hare moaned loudly, hopping back up to stare at her, "No, let's not worry, I've patched her up and patted her head, she does look a might thirsty, though, perhaps she'd like some tea?" he'd been looking at the hare, but the question was directed at her. She didn't have to worry about the answer, though, as a cup was quickly pressed into her hand, sugar added as well as cream. Blinking down into the hot tea she felt a little confused, why were they giving her tea after she'd been shot? Were they as crazy as the table long?

"Really, you two are confusing the poor thing!" A sudden voice spoke up from the other end of the table, and she was more then a little shocked to see it come from a widely grinning cat with purple stripes. Staring at the odd creature with interest she jumped when he suddenly 'poofed' (which was what it was, a poof, one that had purple smoke implode upon itself) from where he was to where she was, thankfully she managed to remain seated even though her mouth had flopped open, her eyes wide as he began doing rolls in the air, "A little on the small side, aren't you?" he suddenly asked her.

Color burst forth onto her cheeks, as her eyes narrowed and hands fisted; honestly she was a bit short compared to other women, but it was hardly even a four inch difference, and if she wore high-heals then it wasn't at all noticeable. She decided she wouldn't answer his 'question', but instead ask one of her own, "I've never seen a grinning purple striped cat that can poof in and out before, are you real?" she asked, arching an eyebrow as she leaned forward to study him.

Weird-hat-guy and the Hare, who's name was actually Zachery or something similar like that, were laughing very loudly at her question, leaving her a little bit more confused then she had been. "Of course I'm real, but are you? Since I was here first I would have to think you to be fake and not I." he turned "onto" his back in the air and gave her another grin.

Alice frowned, not expecting her own 'realness' to come into question, "I'm not the cat that's grinning with his purple fur shinning." she retorted, "Nor am I floating about in the air as though I were lighter then it." she smirked in victory, "So therefore I know I'm not fake."

"Not exactly," argued the cat, "You've only argued that you're not me, and as we haven't found which of us is real and which of us isn't, proving that you aren't me is merely a useless argument to fill the silence with." he still wore his grin, and now even his devilish eyes were sparkling with laughter, as though he thought it was funny making a poor girl who'd obviously been having a bad day also think she were crazy.

Frowning she shook her head and decided to drop the argument, the only good it was doing her was to give her a headache along with the stinging fire that was playing havoc on her each time she moved her shoulders; didn't these people have any pain relievers at all? "Drink up, drink up!" The fuzzy brown hare spoke up, his eyes looking wildly upon the 'guests' as each still had full cups while his own sat empty before him, "Th' use of ha'in' a tea party if noboody dinks th' tea?"

As though his voice had pressed a little 'on' button on each one of them, they all began sipping their tea and talking with each other, a little mouse, well, larger then little but littler then large, suddenly popped next to a cup Alice had assumed to have been accidentally filled and began darting about it, snatching sugar cubes and a spoon. It wasn't long until she'd created herself a type of catapult and was launching them at guests, some of whom dodged, the others using their cups to catch the cubes for their tea, Alice couldn't say it was a bad idea, so when a couple went her way she caught them inside her cup and began stirring, earning the applause of Weird-Hat-Guy, who's names were actually, she learned, Mad Hatter (what an odd name for a person) and the hare (a March-Hare, whatever that was), who was actually named Thackery .

The mouse, which was apparently a dormouse, was also called Mallymkun, which was an adorable name for a mouse, she thought, if only the darn things manners were as equally as cute as it's name was... To bad they weren't. The damn thing kept trying to stab her with pins that looked to have matched the same Mad Hatter had stuck into the pincushions at his wrist (which, Alice might add, was a strange thing to wear as jewelery). Though after some thought Alice found she couldn't really blame the mouse completely for it, after all Mad Hatter and Thackery were constantly trying to snatch the poor thing up and stuff her into a tea pot... Why, she didn't know, but they were showing a determination for it that Alice felt had to have stemmed from a reason.

It was when Thackery had begun throwing dangerous things (knives, forks, broken cups and dishes, and a very startled looking dormouse) that Alice felt she'd had more then enough of both tea and the guests. She'd left them with a smile as she'd walked away with a promise of visiting before she went back home (one she wasn't sure she could follow through with as she didn't know when she would be going home) and had taken off in some random direction that made her wish she'd have learned something else in girl scouts besides sewing her patches and boiling rice.

* * *

It had actually taken her quite some time to even realize she'd been followed, which spoke volumes on how closely she was paying attention to her surroundings as the one following her had never been known to be quiet. However he hadn't been talking, which he was proud of, since she'd looked as though she were concentrating on something important and he didn't wish to interrupt what could be a very deep conversation with herself. It was always difficult for those conversations to go well, even more-so with people luring your thoughts away from it, Tarrant had always hated it when people did it to him; though he did understand the necessity of it, he tended to go overboard with it, after all.

However it had been hours since he last spoke a word, and he'd been hoping the travel they'd take would be more interesting then what it currently was, didn't she have any sense for adventure?

Thinking of asking the girl he instead sneezed, bringing her head snapping around in his direction as though she hadn't known he was there; which would have been ridiculous, as even if he hadn't been talking he'd certainly been making plenty of racket (it was so difficult to walk quietly when holding so many small things that clattered together).

"Hatter!" she yelped, stumbling back slightly and nearly upending herself in a patch of flowers if he hadn't reached out and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing so, "What are you doing here?"

"Following you." He answered, studying her wrist where his hand still grasped. Such a dainty wrist should wear gloves to protect them, it wouldn't do for wrists so smooth to become scared from accidents! He released it before his own tattered hand, calloused and injured as it was, could scratch her skin, "You seemed to need someone to follow after you, and who better to do the following then I?" he asked, laughing, "I am a rather good follower, why even the queen's said it before her sister took over; nasty bit of a change that was- DOWLN WIT BLOWDY BIGHID!"

The girl jumped a bit and he had to catch her soft unblemished wrist again to keep her from nearly falling again, "I'm sorry." he smiled, twirling her to his side and releasing her wrist to press his hand against the small of her back, urging her forward. "Sometimes I get a bit carried away, I do hate that woman so." shaking his head his voice deepened as he went on, "Tortures those she doesn't capture, and kills those that she does; forces gud people inta slavery while th' bad'uns walk aboot as par'a 'er court!" shaking his head venomously he snarled, voice once again slurring his words together as he strove to speak English "Desgustin' thin' tha shudna dar' liv' 'er life an' tink we'll forget an' forgive!"

Alice blinked at him and he realized his tone must have once again wandered to an Outlandish accent, quickly clearing his throat he gave a small smile, "I'm fine." he wasn't, not nearly; but telling the girl he was seemed to ease some of the worry from her face and she continued on. He wouldn't be fine until he knew the woman to be dead and buried beside her precious knave, a man who took pleasure in the pain he brought to others; a soul twisted and blackened for the worse type of man. Truthfully, Tarrant had been happy she had wanted to leave the tea party, had she stayed they would have had to introduce her to the black-hardhearted knave as he tortured them all for laughs.

Though he was more then a bit uncomfortable at having to travel with someone who's name he didn't know, she really should have introduced herself at the party rather then switching the topic, then again, none of them had; which was probably the reason why she hadn't. "By the way, what is your name?" he asked, studying her. She looked like she could maybe be an Amanda, or perhaps an Annie; though she could pass for an Amy if she wanted.

"Alice." she introduced herself, "Alice Kingsleigh." she paused and arched an eyebrow at Tarrant's grin, "What about it makes you that happy?" she snapped wearily, stepping away from him.

"Well I knew you had a name that would have to start with an A, should have guessed Alice, you definitely look like an Alice." he explained himself, "Definitely not an Amanda, Annie, or Amy; but rather something strong and soft, and what stronger and softer name can their be then 'Alice'?" he nodded his approval, his smile widening a bit as he offered a formal bow, sweeping off his hat while he did so, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alice, I am Tarrant Hightopp, the best hatter in Underland and personal hatter to the right queen!"

She bent to meet his gaze, "I thought your name was Mad Hatter."

Laughing he stood and shook his head, "No, no, I'm afraid I'm just A mad hatter, though only half mad, mind you!" he placed his hat back on his head and thought for a moment, "Or I think I'm still half mad, though it's difficult to tell how mad you are without having someone around to judge for you how mad you were before you went madder then you already are! What if I were completely sane before I went mad? It would drastically change how mad I would be if I were already half made to begin with!" he blinked when he finished, then cleared his throat, "Sorry, I'm fine; I tend to ramble until someone has to stop me." chuckling nervously he cleared his throat again and adjusted his hat, then offered her his arm, "Don't worry, Alice Kingsleigh, as mad as I am you've nothing to worry about me; I follow simply to protect you, that is all."

She straightened and took his arm, allowing him to lead her for a moment, "If it makes you feel better, Tarrant," she started, and he decided he rather liked how his name sounded from her lips, "if you're half mad, then I'd prefer that everyone would be half mad."

His felt his blood rush at that, and couldn't stop his smile, "It does make me feel better, Alice, but I think I'd rather prefer all people to act like you instead."

* * *

Authors Note: ... So long... So very, very long... And still two more parts to go that will be of equal length! Why did I get this idea in my head when I've got other things to do is beyond me, if I'd known it would have taken so long I would have just completely ignored it!

This took a large bit of work, so please don't flame it. Go flame my other fictions if you have to, I've more then enough mistakes in them for it; but have mercy on this one. Haha!

I already know the characters are "OOC", if you would have stopped and read the notes stating I took creative liberties with the characters then it would have prevented you from being surprised... If there's one thing to pointedly complain about without becoming a flamer, it would be Thackery's accent... Can't figure the bloody accent out! He doesn't speak very much in the movie for me to work with it so I just went with a heavy Cornish and tried to stay true to it, many apologies that it sucks outright. As for Tarrants, while it does suck, some of it sucks on purpose. The sentences that look like it's a mix of both 'no' accent and 'Outland' accent is because it is a mix with Tarrant trying to control it.

There will be three parts to this story (as I've said before); 'The Beginning', 'The Middle', and 'The End' (zOMG I'm so creative in titles, bow before my awesome skill). 'The Middle' is currently only half done, I suggest coming back in two or three days as that's probably the time I'll need in order to finish writing it and give it a quick editing.


	2. The Middle

**Alice's Greatest Adventure**

-_Part Two: The Middle_-

* * *

Authors Note: I've taken creative liberties with the characters used in AiW2010, if you've read the first part, then that much is pretty apparent. If you're still reading then I'm guessing that you don't mind to much. Also, I've attempted to "Americanize" Alice because (for one) I wanted Alice to be away on a trip when she went to Underland and (for two) I imagine a current American adult would be as rude as a Victorian English child.

Disclaimer: Original story and characters were created and owned by Lewis Carroll, character APPEARENCE was taken from the Burton/Depp adaptation. I reserve the right to use creative liberties in my own adaptation as long as I don't lay claim to any of the characters in any way. Please be aware that some characters will be seen as 'out of character' because I've 'tweaked' them a little bit... *UPDATE* I also don't own any major or minor companies mentioned.

APOLOGIES TO: Thackery and Tarrant for being so vicious as I continue to horrible mangle their accents.

Previously:_ Alice, while on what she intended to be an extended trip to England, gets attacked while visiting Ascot Manor during one of their tourist teas. Running away she gets shot and stumbles into Underland where she's rescued by Nevins, Tarrant, and Chessur. Spending a small amount of time with them she heads out on her own, not intending for a certain mad hatter to follow her._

* * *

It was odd, Alice thought, that despite how strange the situation was, she was actually rather glad to have an admitted mad man's arm pressed firmly at her back as he walked beside her in a land that couldn't have been real, and yet was. She knew it was without question, because she found herself continuing to wonder why Tarrant kept his hand to her back, and you didn't wonder in dreams, you just accepted; not that she didn't want to accept it, because it was a nice, warm, and steady hand. However she also didn't know the owner of the hand long enough for the hand to remain there, and if her mother ever found out that she'd allowed a man to place his hands on her only after just having introduced himself she would have a conniption and begin another one of her infamous four hour long lectures; and she doubted her mother would have any nice names to call her during it, either.

After coming to the decision that it was time for him to move his hand she turned to tell him so, only to have herself pressed against a tree with his tall frame pressed against her. Her gasp was covered by a hand and his voice shushed her, which of course did nothing for her frightened nerves as she tried to push him away with as much success as she had winning even one argument with her mother (which, she would assure you if ever asked, was to difficult and strenuous to even make an attempt at doing). It wasn't until she heard loud thumping on the ground, followed by a great many other, that she stopped fighting and pushing in order to realize they were actually hiding from someone. When he suddenly pulled her down to the tall grass and climb over her to squish and hide her blue dress under his own less brightly colored clothes she kept her mouth shut and didn't argue.

She'd already been in one tragic situation that day and she certainly didn't wish to be in another! Though it was difficult to concentrate on that, instead of how his hands held her hips or his how his breath scalded past her collar bone to cool over her breasts; which were both humiliating thoughts. She was Alice Kingsleigh, for heaven's sake! She'd turned down more attractive dates by the handful without batting an eye (though she blamed this mainly on the fact that she hadn't found them the least attractive); by the time she'd graduated she hadn't once felt at all interested in anyone.

So why in the name of all things good and holy did she shiver and twitch while there was apparently a very dangerous situation brewing not ten feet away under a man she hardly knew who's skin only paled next to printing paper and smelled of tea leaves and pastries? When he breathed out again Alice would have hit herself, except one hand had been pressed between them and the other was held in his hand at the side of her head; the realization made her twitch again and, when he had finally let her up, she all but sprinted away.

Glaring down at her dress as she brushed the long grass and smudges of dirt from the blue fabric she failed to see the hatter staring at her curiously; and when she had looked up he was dusting himself off, muttering things in a language she couldn't understand. Men were weird creatures, she decided, and to be safe around them, she would have to avoid physical contact; especially with ones where were supposedly half mad and drank tea with talking animals while they attempted to out crazy each other with strange songs and even stranger actions.

Once he'd finished he came up to her and grinned, "Sorry about that, but if we'd have gotten caught by them it would have put a hamper our freedom a bit." he was laughing, but Alice didn't think for an instant that he was joking. She began walking again, and he began following her again, each making sure that they avoided touching each other.

* * *

It was only a short while later that Tarrant decided he rather liked the way an Alice felt against him, though he didn't say it out loud, of course. Alice had felt soft and pliable, and had tucked into him perfectly; which had been nice, as most women, in fact, did not. While she wasn't fat she also wasn't thin, soft in all the places that had been pressed against him; the women of Underland were all either to fat or to thin, with the exception of the Queen (of whom he'd never touched with that sort of intention). He paused, suddenly, lagging behind to watch Alice's back; was he thinking of an intention when he was thinking of Alice's body?

He nearly laughed, of course he was, otherwise he wouldn't be thinking of her body at all! It was a good thing, he thought, that he already knew he was half mad; it saved him the trouble of having to wonder during times where he found himself thinking of things that shouldn't be thought of. For instance, Alice's waist... It was actually a thing of beauty, and the dress she wore somehow showed no hint of it! Very small without being boney, and very round without being fat, he could probably span her entire waist and have his fingers nearly touch! He had to stop his hands from actually trying, as he was sure she wouldn't appreciate him suddenly grabbing her from behind to touch her hips; though he very seriously wanted to.

He also liked her legs, but quickly found himself beginning to hate the dress... Which was odd, since, even though it was vastly shorter then the one's women from Underland wore, it was still nicely cut and crafted... But it was remarkably short; if he noticed it then others would as well. If others noticed it then they would notice her legs, and if they noticed her legs they would probably think thoughts that shouldn't be thought; much like he was doing, however whereas he controlled himself what would he do if the people thinking thoughts couldn't control themselves? However, how could he solve the problem with no fabric to sew her another dress?

"Tarrant?"

Tarrant looked up at the sound of Alice calling his name, shocked to realize she'd gotten so far ahead of him, and put his hat back on before jogging to catch up with her, laughing, "I'm sorry, was thinking of your dress." he informed her, which he hadn't intended to inform her of at all. He coughed, "Or, rather, I was thinking of a dress to make you; something that wouldn't stand out as much as the one you're wearing." there, all better now; he doubted her reaction to him wondering about her waist size would be one he found healthy for his own body... And he knew further thinking of it would do nothing to help his mind.

"Dress?" she looked down at the one she was wearing, then blushed, "Is it to short? Some of the other guests had longer dresses, but Emily had said this one would do for me and I thought it was actually kind of pretty." she fluffed the bottom in concern.

He quickly shook his head, feeling the reddish-orange mess bounce as he did so, "To short isn't the problem; while the color looks wonderful on you, it's just a bit to bright, perhaps a different shade of blue?" he asked, "Something like your eyes, that would be a good color of blue, one of my favorites." another bit of information he hadn't intended on giving, but thankfully she hadn't noticed the compliment, so he didn't feel the need to explain it away. He did, however take the chance to touch the end of her skirt, "And, perhaps, a bit shorter, too."

"Don't you mean longer?"

He dropped the dress, "Longer, yes! My mistake, hardly ever have mistakes with words, I must be needing a cup of tea." He laughed nervously, wondering at the new desire of bashing his head against a tree, it couldn't be healthy to do himself harm, after all... Was he growing even madder then usual? Clearing his throat he grinned, "Shorter wouldn't do, any shorter and it would show your thighs, not that they wouldn't very lov-" he stopped himself with a shake of his head, then finished lamely, "Longer is better."

She looked at him for a moment, then laughed, "You're somewhat of an odd man, Tarrant." she said, however the friendly smile took the sting from the words, turning them about until it sounded more of a compliment. Her softly curling hair gently laid against her back, shinning in the sun so much that he could spot other soft colors within it, pinks and blues seemed to favor the strands, though; but the best thing about it was that it curled so fairly around his fingers without the least persuasion to make it.

"Of course I'm odd, I am mad, you know; hard not to be odd when you're half mad!" He reached into his pockets, pulling out small things like buttons and thimbles as he searched around, for what he didn't know. He assumed his hands simply wanted to be busy, as they began to itch terribly, his palms almost unbearably crawling; "It's not such a bad thing, you know, I never have a boring thought... Unless I'm thinking of a boring thing, in which it's actually got to be a rather boring thought-"

"Tarrant?" Alice interrupted, looking into his hands and pulling out a sparkling silver button, "What are you looking for?"

"Just keeping busy." He shook his head, looking at the button she held and wishing he had more of them, she seemed to like it, and it certainly looked nice against her fingers. While she studied the button his fingers unconsciously began weaving string together, unintentionally weaving his fingers together into the string and trapping them in front of him just seconds before he realized what he'd done. He began trying to tug them apart when Alice's head was suddenly very close to them, a delicate golden eyebrow arched.

Slipping the button back into his jacket pocket she laughed, "What did you do?" she laughed, stepping in front of him to stop him from walking before her hands began pulling gently at the string about his fingers, "Better yet, how did you do this?" she managed to free one of his index fingers and was working on his middle finger before he even realized she'd stopped to help. She was standing close to him, frowning slightly with concentration as her smile kept itself on her face; the sent of her shampoo bathed over his senses and he found himself leaning down to smell her.

The petite girl hadn't noticed, working on unbinding his fingers instead of paying attention to the rest of his body as he took a step closer; just a bit more and he would be able to press his cheek against her head. Thankfully she made another sound of victory as two of his fingers were released from the string, and he hurriedly stepped back, surprised by the sound as much as his own bodies reaction to her nearness. She made quick work of the rest of the fingers and returned a large tangled ball of string to him, which he quickly disposed of back into the pocket it had come from to be sorted and disentangled at a later time.

Then he realized he had begun touching her hair, combing his fingers into the thick curls and playing with them as though he held no sense of proprietary, which he did have, even though the amount of it was lacking. Pulling his hand from her hair as she blinked at him in confusion he offered a wide smile and grasped about within his head for some sort of an excuse when he noticed Mamoreal's towers come into view, "Mamoreal!" he suddenly shouted, pointing his finger to the white stones thankfully. If an excuse couldn't be found and an apology couldn't be uttered (for he was not going to apologize for touching her hair when he still thought of doing it again), then the next best thing was a distraction!

He sighed in relief when Alice's gaze followed his pointing, then took her arm within his own and sped up his step slightly, "You'll love Mamoreal, everyone does, even if it is a bit to much white." He laughed nervously, "Lovely gardens, it has, and I've a workroom there as well, I can prepare you another dress while you meet with the queen... Or before, depending on what she wants, though I'd prefer to have you with me." His nervous laugh sounded, "For measurements, of course!" he added on strenuously, looking somewhat pained.

Alice looked at him for a moment, her head tilted, before they widened and she blushed as well; he began laughing louder at her reaction when he realized he couldn't stop the giggles that could very well rival Thackery's. Worried he would frighten her off he attempted a cough to cover them up, only to have a small squeeze from Alice's hand choke the laugh abruptly from him while she studied the towers they were coming closer to; "Dress first then, right?"

Looking at the tower for a moment he finally nodded, "Dress first."

* * *

When they first stepped into Mamoreal Tarrant knew something was wrong; firstly, the gate had been closed, and it was common knowledge that Queen Mirana never allowed the gates to be closed to the citizens of Underland. All were welcome to come and go as they pleased. Which brought the second thing he noticed that was off, there were no citizens of Underland running about the palace grounds, even the court members were rare and in between, and oddly dispirited, as well. Lastly, nobody wore white; at first he hadn't noticed, since he'd been involved in thinking of different dresses in which to clothe the woman at his side; but then the cream color started to sink in.

Mirana preferred white, not cream, just as her sister preferred red, not burgundy; and he didn't know of any ruler that chose cream as their official color. It had always been red, white, black, and gray (though the Gray Queen hardly ever chose to do anything but sit and think; even rarer to action then the White Queen; and the Black Queen was up to her neck in political chaos that she still hadn't managed to sort out). There was no Cream Queen, though; at least he didn't think there was, he'd personally never heard of one.

Tucking Alice close to his side he whispered a warning into her ear, filling her into his thoughts; he felt her nod in response and tuck herself closer to his side, allowing his arm to wrap about her shoulders protectively. When they were inside the palace he quickly lead her to his hattery, closing the door firmly behind them and locking it for good measure; that was when he probably received the final and most shocking blow. His hattery was no longer how he had left it, nor did it even resemble a hattery any longer, for that matter.

Ribbons were replaced with chains, metal sheets were where he had left his cloth and leather; whips were where he'd kept his linings, and strangely enough; instead of his sewing table he found... Tools of the sort he would never work with.

"Is that blood?" Gasped Alice, pointing to a pool of red that was only just a few centimeters from her feet near a large table that had been a small couch when he'd last been to the palace. Narrowing his eyes dangerously he gestured for the girl to come close to him once again, taking her by her wrist to press her behind him; someone had changed his hattery into a demented storage room. Nobody entered the hattery without him in the room first, it was a useless thing to do; his usual chaos was near impossible to sort though and the only ones allowed to touch the unfinished hats were Queen Mirana and himself.

Scowling as he gave the room another sweep of his gaze he turned back around and slid the door open and jerked Alice back out, "Stick ta me side, lassy." he grated out, hardly noticing her nod her head in agreement, "Seems we migh' be inna wee bit o' a spot."

She would have responded, however he began pulling her along the halls, forcing her to a near jog to keep up as he made sharp turns around corners, going by memory towards the grand hall where he would either find the White Queen, or the invader that had taken over Mamoreal. Whoever had done it was obviously an outsider, not even Iracebeth, who made it publicly aware that she intended to gain the crown from her sister, would dare to break the unspoken rule the royal sisters had agreed upon. However how could an outsider manage to get into Underland without alert Thackery, Mally, and himself, who remained just outside of the woods where they would have to pass?

They reached the throne room in record time, the white pawn guards that usually stood replaced by two men wearing cream robes carrying large sinister black sticks that made Alice gasp loudly and pull back. Turning to her he arched a thick eyebrow, "Wha's amatta wit ya, gel?" he asked, at which she only shook her head, trembling where she stood, "Dinna worry, Ah'm righ' 'ere, nuttin' will happen ta ye." he comforted as best he could in his current state of mind. Giving a firm tug to her wrist and making her stumble to his side he snarled at the guards, who opened the doors for him, leering at Alice as they passed by.

What he seen startled him so much that he stopped in his tracks, his mouth gaping open in disgusted horror. His queen sat at another woman's feet, the older woman sneering down at him as though he were the unwelcome guest. Her graying hair was perfectly coiffed on her head, her cream gown puffed around her waist and out, the tight bodice covering from the top of her neck to the very ends of her wrist; she appeared to have been expecting them, however, for there were two seats off to her right. She gestured to the seats, giving the lowly hatter hardly any thought, but to Alice, she offered a grand smile.

"Alice, dear, how lovely for you to join us! I did try and have my men find you after I heard a clumsy off had shot you, poor dear, I really hadn't intended for them to do that; there were only supposed to frighten you a bit." she tutted, shaking her head and gesturing towards the chairs at her side, "Please! Come sit! I honestly hadn't expected to take such a liking to you when I first seen you, however you have grown on me." offering the younger girl a grandmotherly smile she gave another detesting gaze towards Tarrant, "Your friend, too; I would generally have the creatures of Underland in the dungons, however I heard that he assisted you a great deal, so I'll allow him to stay."

* * *

Emily was sitting on the queens throne, speaking to her as though she had not only just come from what had to have been one of the most dangerous situations of life, but also as if she were the one who had orchestrated it. Shaking her head she looked in confusion to the seat Emily kept gesturing towards, when Tarrant began tugging her towards the seat she held back, looking between Emily and Tarrant as though they'd both lost their minds. "You've got to be kidding me." she whispered, turning her eyes towards the smiling older woman.

"You had me run away from them!" she denied, "Told me to hide in the woods until it was safe."

"Of course I did, how else would you find the rabbit hole?" She asked, arching a fine eyebrow in amusement, "Though I did take a large gamble letting you run off on your own, for a moment I feared you might have actually followed the group, however true to what I seen in you, you made your own path." She nodded in approval, flicking a fan open as she laughed, "You almost over-stepped the hole, though, it's the reason why Jerald shot you;" she paused and sent a battered man near the doors behind them a glare, "He's been properly punished, of course, no reason to shoot such a beautiful young girl like you, was it, Jerald?" she snapped.

"No, your highness, of course not, beggin' your apologies, Lady Alice." He responded quickly with a deep bow.

"Wha' da ye wan' wit Underlan'?" Tarrant suddenly snapped, pushing Alice gently behind his body and giving her a warning glare over his shoulder to keep her there in case she decided to run. Alice swallowed and looked towards a woman with long blonde hair with unnatural beauty, instantly knowing her to be the White Queen her companion had spoken of, for she did, in fact, wear white. Layers of cloud-like fabric with hair that fairly floated about her in long, straight, white strands that looked both sinister and beautiful; though her eyes clearly spoke of only kindness.

Emily's voice startled her as she yelled, "I belong here!" she snapped, banging a seasoned fist against the arm of the throne, "Born here, only to be sent away by my god awful parents." she snarled and stood up, glaring down at the White Queen as though it had been her decision, "Of course, my mother wasn't the queen, no, merely the daughter of one of her," she kicked a foot out at the queen, who gasped and fell over in a flourish. Alice couldn't help but think it might have been a bit over-dramatic as Emily had to be near eighty-years-old at the least. "mother's ladies-in-waiting." she shook her head, "The bastard daughter of the king born onto a lady-in-waiting; can you imagine the scandal?"

"Lies!" Tarrant snapped, slashing his hand through the air, "Slander and deceit-"

"I don't lie." she snapped, glaring at him, "I may cheat, steal, and embellish just the slightest, but I never lie! Alice!" she snapped, turning to the younger woman who flinched, eyes wide and frightened, "When I met you, did I not insist we would enjoy the magical land together?" she demanded, then smiled gently at Alice's tentative nod, "I might have kept information to myself while giving a bit to misleading someone here and there, but I would never lie directly; no child born from the king can lie directly, you know."

She tugged on Tarrant's sleeve, "I want to go, Tarrant, I want to leave." she urged, looking down at the queen, and licking her lips, "Let's leave now, just take the queen and go!"

"You're not going anywhere, Alice, you'll stay here with me." She sighed and looked around the palace, "I had hoped to bring my husband, however people from Upside just don't have the same life expectancy as we Underlarians have; I think it's something to do with all their polution." She cringed her nose, "However I think you'll be fine, dear, haven't been up there long, only nineteen years, if I remember correctly." Smiling kindly she gave a quick glance at Tarrant and sighed, "I'll even allow you to keep him, dear, please?"

"Ye'll no' be givin' meh to enny'un, ya thevin' cow!" He snapped, "An' Ah'll be takin' th' Queen back, as well." His arm rose and gestured to the queen to come to him, which Alice had to suppress a laugh when she did. She couldn't knock over a woman three times her own age, but she could hop up and dodge the men that surrounded her to go to Tarrant.

Shaking her head she nearly smacked herself, what a terrible thought, she would have done the same thing! Well... Perhaps she would have fought back against the old woman when there hadn't been guards about... "You can't do that! How dare you, do you see what he's doing, Alice?" She shrieked loudly, hitting the chair of her thrown again and leaping up in a way no eighty-year-old woman should have been able to. "Trying to have two women, you rake!" She seethed, "Guards, get Alice away from that philanderer before he spreads a disease to her!"

"What?" Was Alice's intelligent reply two seconds before a tug-of-war began as Tarrant and the White Queen snatched both her wrists while two guards had her about her waist. It felt surreal, being fought over in a way that made absolutely no sense; why shouldn't Tarrant want his queen? Though the idea did bother her, she couldn't say that she blamed him, she was a rather beautiful woman and she did have a sort of airy grace about her that Alice didn't have; it wasn't like she was dating him, anyhow, or even wanted to, for that matter.

However, she also didn't wish to be around their reunion, either.

Looking between Tarrant and Emily a couple of times she found herself breaking away from the tug-a-war, racing blindly towards the window before her brain had a chance to catch up with her body's actions. When their screams finally sunk into her brain she realized she was falling and her screams had joined their own; terror at what she'd managed to do sinking in as she began to grasp the thin air around her in a futile attempt to stop her fall to the ground, which was a lot longer then she'd thought; didn't castles usually have the throne room first level? Underland made no sense whatsoever!

When she suddenly fell upon a leathery back she stopped screaming, expecting herself to be dead; however a loud roar sounded next, forcing her to cover her ears to prevent her eardrums from bursting. When she felt other people join her on whatever she was on she turned and seen a furious looking Tarrant, eyes blazing orange at her as though damning her an eternity of hell, and a rather to serene-to-be-true White Queen, who's smile looked out of place as screams began over-lapping each other and she realized people were running away from her.

"What's going on?" She yelled over everything.

Tarrant pulled her against his chest and leaned down, forcing a hand from her ear to shout something she couldn't understand, however the tone made it more then clear that she was not in a position to ask questions. The Queen looked over his shoulder at her brightly, "He says that you mustn't leave his side again." She pressed a finger to her cheek and seemed to think for a moment, her dark eyes rolling up so far that she had to lift her chin, "I think."

Alice gaped at her, "If you don't know, then why answer?" she asked, frustrated to have the two join her for a reason she didn't care to think on; "What's happening? Let me off, I'd rather walk!" she managed to unwrap one of the hatters arms from her as she twisted and jerked about, but it didn't last for long until the arm was back around her waist and wrapping over her chest to take a firm hold of her shoulder.

"Are ye daft?" his voice snapped, holding her firmly against his chest, "We're tae high in th' air for this, lass!" when she froze he forced her to look around them to the clouds passing them by, confused by the passing clouds and sickened by the thought of once again flying, especially with no walls or even a seat to keep her from plunging to her untimely death.

* * *

When the dragon landed Tarrant had slipped down from it's side, dragging the blonde woman with him, then released her and helped his queen off as well, setting her gently to the ground. Once she was standing on her own she began to titter about, giving wide smiles at the slowly forming circle of red cards that surrounded them, swords and pole-axes drawn, but not poised; as though unsure of their own reactions should be. Just a few hours ago each side had been against the other, now, however, it seemed that the Red Queen had discovered that something had interrupted the long standing events in Underland and prevented the game from continuing.

"Iracebeth is here, is she not?" Mirana's voice asked brightly, moving to walk out from the circle of cards and into the large palace ahead of her, her elbows bent and her hands dreamily waving as she walked. Tarrant wasn't sure to be surprised or not, when the cards all stepped back to allow her though without even a word of explanation; probably by Iracebeth's orders, the hatter assumed. It was amazing that the two sisters knew some much about the going-on's of Underland, especially when it concerned the other sibling, from half the country away.

Dragging a reluctant and pale Alice behind him he cautiously made his way through after his queen, keeping a tight hold on the girl's wrist in case she suddenly decided to take another mad gamble on her life by flinging herself upon one of the card's swords. Though she seemed to have since gathered her wits, he found himself to be without a charitable mind, feeling not a speck of guilt over his rough treatment; if she wanted to end her life she would bloody well have to go through him, first. Especially if she thought to do it in front of him.

In a few short moments they were in the red queens throne room and she was speaking to them with that ridiculous spoiled child accent, her wide eyes impatiently waiting for her sister's explanation as her fingers drummed against the arm rest; "You're telling me you were taken captive by Emily." she stated, arching a thin eyebrow incredulously, "My men told me that she's nothing but an old woman, how in the world did she..." trailing off she gave a snort like laugh, "Never mind, I think I know." standing up she walked down the three steps so that she could stand before them.

After a moment she gave a smile, "I will stop my attacks against you and your followers for a bit, until you get all of this sorted out and taken care of." Tarrant felt her gaze swing between him and Alice, "While I'm forced to provide my sister sanctuary, you two are another story; you may rest here for this night, but tomorrow you will have to make other arrangements." With that two maids scurried forward, urging him and Alice to follow them.

When he snapped at them to leave him be Mirana waved him away, "I will be alright with my sister, Tarrant, as per our parents final wishes we can not hurt the each other." she soothed, "I will stay here until I'm ready to retire for the night, please take Alice to her room, she looks as though she's ready to rest for a bit."

Nodding his understanding he allowed the maids to lead him out and to the rooms that had, apparently, been prepared for their use. One beside the other the two small rooms were adjoining; and while sparsely decorated, still held the decorative talents that all of Underland royalty enjoyed. The maids left them, then, and he was finally left alone with the increasingly frustrated girl just inches away from his side.

"Would you let go of me for five minutes, please?" she asked, pulling her wrist free and rubbing the area as though he'd held his grip to tight, "You act like I'd intended to dive out of the window; which I wasn't." when she stared into his eyes he felt his nerves sooth, "I was being jerked around by adults that acted more like children fighting over a favorite toy, by the time I realized that I'd jumped from the window I was already falling."

He stared at her silently for a moment, before his eyes narrowed a bit and he jabbed his finger into her face, stopping just a breath away from the middle of her eyes, "Next time be lookin' where ye be leapin' or ye jus' migh' find yeself in a 'ole tae big tae crawl out of." he growled before turning on the balls of his feet to answer the knock at his door.

A little maid stood with a large tea-tray balanced carefully and he happily took it from her, thanking her before he closed the door and made his way to the small table at the corner of his room, "Now let's sit down and enjoy some tea and snacks, then we can sleep for the night."

* * *

Nearly a week later found them still residing at the red queens palace; who had obviously not cared to remember her first order of 'one night then begone'. Alice found herself not at all comfortable with her rooms, as the hatter often just burst into her room without the slightest thought of knocking; somehow managing to balance the cups and saucers in his hands while the rest of the tea service sat on his hat. It was an unusual way to enter the room, yet she knew she was growing use to it, as she no longer jumped or screamed before running to take the tray from his head before it all went crashing to the ground.

Today was no different, and when he suddenly burst into the room she had already prepared the small table, moved so that it was closer to the door and near the fireplace, so that she could set the service onto the top without to much trouble. He'd quickly distributed the saucers and cups before sitting down and pouring the tea and offering her a cup; by the time she sat she realized that each of the actions had been done without thought.

After tea they went to the throne room, which had somehow been transformed into a meeting room; a large table having been moved into the large empty area off to the side, several matching high backed wooden chairs lining the edges with two regal looking chairs for both queens to sit in. Once again, each chair was filled with red card clad warriors and white chess armored knights with Mirana at one end of the table and Iracebeth at the other.

They were already deep into discussing plans to re-crown Mirana to her castle when Alice and Tarrant had taken their seats, the table littered with scraps of paper and goblets of unfinished drinks. "If you don't fight back then nothing will happen!" Iracebeth was saying, her voice sharp and demanding, "None of this would be happening if you would have only stood firm and not willing removed your crown!"

"It is against my vow to harm a living creature, Iracebeth, and furthermore, I cannot take action against a sister." Mirana defended herself airly, her hands clasped before her; "To do so would be just the same as advacating my position as part of the royal family, you know this just as well as I do."

"I also know that neither father nor mother ever intended for Emily to come back and create this mess; they would have understood the need to defend the country." narrowing her eyes Iracebeth took hold of the goblet in front of her and sipped, placing it back onto the table before continuing, "If you agree, we could have our champions merge together to fight her off, if either of us took action against her personally, then Underland will not be able to stand the repercussions."

Alice frowned, not really understanding what they were talking about, "Champions?" she asked, somewhat worried for Emily, despite her actions against both Alice and Underland, "They won't hurt her, will they? She is frightfully old, after all."

Both Mirana and Iracebeth laughed, "She only appears to be old because of where she lived before coming back." Mirana explained, "In truth, she might already have regained her youthfulness." gesturing towards her own face she smiled, "The people in Underland age differently then what I suppose you're use to, what seems old to you is actually quite young for us."

"I, myself, am actually nearing ninety." Iracebeth continued, waving the subject away, "None of this is important, however, have your champion ready by tomorrow, if we don't meet with her as soon as possible we only allow her to grow in strength."

When Mirana bit her lip demurely and gazed at Alice, the younger girl felt herself beginning to wonder if she wasn't perhaps thinking what Alice feared her to be thinking. If she was, then it was near an impossible thought as impossible thoughts could go; she could hardly be expected to fight against her friend. Even if she hadn't known the woman for very long, she'd proved herself to be kind (even though she'd also shown herself to be conniving) and more then generous.

The day before Alice had heard hints from others about her 'destiny' and understood, if somewhat vaguely, that Mirana expected something more out of her then friendship. However now, as she watched the white queen take a scroll and set it gingerly onto the table, she felt she already knew what Mirana would say.

The Oraculum, something that a small caterpillar had arrived with, was their version of a calender (or, at least, that was Alice's interpretation) that told the events of the future instead of the past. An odd little scroll, which apparently did none of them any good besides telling the reader what they should do. Alice personally thought that if it showed the future then they should have tried to prevent Emily from taking the white queens crown.

Looking around the table she waited for Iracebeth to stand and walk over to her side to peer over her shoulder before opening the large and seemingly weathered scroll. As she opened Alice watched entranced, never having seen it before, as gold lines began drawing themselves onto the page, creating a beautiful, intricate picture of a young armored woman holding a sword and riding the back of a rather vicious looking dragon battling what Alice could only call a metal giant of some kind.

The pictured continued to show the dragon breath what Alice assumed to be fire while woman brandishing her sword skillfully against the monster. However then it stopped and the gold lines glimmered for a second more, before settling and fading to black. Alice was rather disappointed when she discovered it wouldn't be moving again and leaned back into her chair, belatedly noticing several eyes upon her.

"You can't be serious." She stated, her eyes widening as she shook her head, willing them to not say what she knew they were going to say. Even with the hints that she'd heard, she didn't know if she could stand them outright saying it, was almost positive that she couldn't. Yet they continued to look at her silently, as though unwilling to say it themselves. "Even if I wasn't petrified of flying, I have no idea how to use a sword; I've never even held a sword before!"

Frowning Mirana looked down, and Alice almost breathed in a sigh of relief, until Iracebeth slammed her hand against the table, "Obviously it's you, and you obviously learn how!" she snapped, "My Jabber-baby-wocky will help you, so it's not as if you'd be fighting on your own. I'll have my knights begin training you at once."

"I can't learn how to use a sword in less then twenty-four hours! Your mad even to think so!" Alice argued back, shaking her head venomously; "Why don't you hope onto your 'Jabber-baby-wocky' and swing a sword around?"

"I am queen, part of the royal family, I can't be seen doing anything of the sort!" Iracebeth gasped, her eyes widening, "The Oraculum says that you can do it, so you can do it; it never tells a lie and only predicts the absolute future."

"It shows me swinging a sword, it doesn't show me winning!" Alice thundered, slamming her hands against the table as ferocity as the red queen had in effort to make her understand, "I'll die, even if that giant-"

"Golem" Mirana interrupted serenely, as though a golem was entirly better then a giant, "Giant's can't be made to listen to anything other then physical power."

"Brillant, I'm not fighting a 'Golem', either!" Pushing herself away from the table she made to leave, only to be blocked by some cards, "Move!"

"You must learn, we don't have time for your tantrums." Iracebeth insisted, "If you quickly accept we can go from there and give you the information you'll need to slay Emily's monster." Alice thought about continuing her argument, then looked back down at the scroll and frowned a bit.

"I hate flying." She stated, "More then hate it, I dislike the height; there's no way I could do anything like that without fainting."

"You'll adjust."

* * *

Tarrant wasn't pleased, at all; he was no idiot, he knew why he was so upset, who wouldn't be upset knowing their friend was undergoing something so dangerous. He'd been perfectly fine during his and Alice's morning tea and though most of the meeting as well; but as soon as the Oraculum had come out he'd felt himself tense up.

When Alice had said no, he'd relaxed a bit, ready to come up with a different plan; while it was unheard of for the Oraculum to be wrong, it wasn't impossible for the future it showed to be different... Was it? Truthfully he hadn't cared, much preferred himself to be sitting on the hideous beast of a dragon then the blonde sitting opposite of him.

Then, she'd faltered, and things began going about so quickly that he'd had no time to even voice his own objections before he was standing before her, a sword in either of their hands, as he began instructing her on how to use it. He was morbidly confused, surely he wasn't actually teaching her how to wield something so dangerous, he couldn't have agreed to even let her touch the sharpened metal! Yet there she was, wearing a pair of trousers and a top, both several sizes to large for her; trying to keep the heavy sword hoisted in place.

It was strange for a woman to look so good while wearing clothes more fit for a male farmer; if he thought about it, he'd never actually seen another woman dressed as she was. Shaking the thought off he called off their practice for a bit and went to retrieve a lighter sword for her to use until the vorpal sword and Alice's armor were delivered. Thankfully, when she'd first been made aware of her half-sister's future actions, she'd made sure to hide them in the house of a loyal civilian just outside of the palace.

It was several hours later when a pair of cards summoned them to return to the throne room, and when they arrived he could easily spot the armor laying on the table. Alice made a noise at the sight and seemed to freeze for a moment before continuing her way to the table, tentatively touching the armor as though afraid it would cut her.

The sword gleamed from the candle light that lit the room, and Tarrant picked the blade up to inspect it, knowing that he would find it to be perfect. Reluctant to hand it over to the girl beside him he did so anyway, watching with interest as she held the hilt, her brown eyes staring at the blade with curiosity. "It's warm."

"It will help you." Mirana comforted, "It will know where it needs to strike, the vorpal sword is a blade made from some of the most precious material in Underland by the skilled hands of the Dormice, one of the last blades they'd ever created."

"Mallymkun herself made the design." Tarrant added in, causing Alice's eyes to widen in surprise before a slow smile graced her face.

* * *

She wasn't sure why the knowledge that a mouse had designed the sword she was to use was a comfort to her; maybe it was because, even as small as she was, she'd appeared so strong. Perhaps it was because Tarrant seemed it was a fact worth mentioning, or maybe it was just that it was a name she recognized held ties to the weapon in her hands; it didn't really matter.

It was light in her hands, and almost seemed to pulse with a life of it's own, and when she held the weapon at her side she was filled with a calmness and sureness. It was almost as though she knew she could battle one-hundred golems with it without hesitation or worry for her own life. Surly, with the blade that she held, she could vanquish any number of enemy's without trouble.

"It is very important that you only use this sword against the golem." Mirana stated suddenly, drawing Alice's concentration, "It was made with the intention of protecting Underland, and one must not use it with personal intentions in mind. It is a pure blade that has never tasted blood in anger, be weary when you wield it in battle and make sure you only strike the golem, nothing more, even if it costs you your life."

Alice found herself nodding before she'd actually understood, and by the time she was walking back out of the room, the sword and armor remaining on the table, it was to late to question the queen further. Biting her lip in worry she couldn't help but wonder at what she was supposed to do, should she be attacked by Emily's men. She could hardly just stand there, and she doubted that even Emily would would hesitate in killing her if it meant that she could continue to rule safely.

A strong sure hand suddenly reached around her shoulders and rubbed her arm, and she didn't have to look up to see the hatter standing there as he comforted her, "Don't worry, Alice, I'll make sure you won't even need a reason to defend yourself against anything but the golem." he promised, and Alice felt better.

Not bothering to take the time to wonder why, she instead walked with him to enjoy an afternoon of tea and cakes before he had her practicing again. After leisurely snacking and sipping while talking about absolute nonsense (though now the question just kept repeating itself within her head... Why was a raven like a writing desk?) Tarrant had led her outside where her eyes lit upon recognizing that there were new arrivals walking up; one an entirely to-twitchy Thackery that insisted Tarrant had missed tea (even though Tarrant had argued the opposite to be true) as Mallymkun came riding Chessur came up, shouting about what, Alice didn't know.

It was loud and a bit chaotic, but it was more calming then she would have thought; even when Mallymkun insisted that she was to stupid to even know how to properly hold a sword and should be on her knees thanking the mouse for her brilliance in craftsmanship (it was a little true, after all). While that wouldn't be happening she did offer the dormouse her thanks and made sure to lavish on comments on how even someone as unskilled as herself knew it to be a fine blade.

As more people began filling the palace grounds Tarrant quickly led her away and towards an open clearing where she spotted Iracebeth sitting with a pit underfoot. Tarrant walked over quickly, and Alice had to restrain him before he said something offending, when they were in front of the queen she pulled off a pair of red heart-shaped sunglasses (which Alice wouldn't have minded wearing herself, it was a tad bright), "Flying lessons." she stated.

Alice almost groaned.

* * *

Authors Note: So, the ending is coming up; for those of you that thought the battle would occur in this chapter, I hate disappointing you. I hope you've enjoyed reading up till now, and I promise a more action-packed ending; I'm planning on writing as many views on the battle as possible, as, obviously, Alice's will be in the sky. Then there's Mallymkun's (How could I not show her POV?) which is a must have, I'm sure many will agree. Tarrants, Styne's (who's missing from this chapter but will appear in the next with plenty of parts of his own; so nobody get their panties in a twist), and more! Hazaa, don't you just love battles, so much action going on in so many places!

While this story has no reviews I can tell that there are some people interested in it (after all, it can't have over 200 hits and be on the story alerts of 9 people no no reason). No, I'm not worried about it, just think it's mega funny is all. Hahaha! Lovin' it.

I hope you enjoyed reading up till now, and I also hope that you'll enjoy the final chapter much more! This ficiton is offically 2/3 completed.


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